MVP: Blake Griffin did it all, and provided his usual handful of highlights to boot by torching the Suns for 23 points, 11 boards, four steals and three assists. The Clippers outscored the Suns by 33 with Griffin on the floor.

LVP: Goran Dragic played one of his worst games of the season with just seven points and one assist to three turnovers while getting torched at the other end by Chris Paul, who went for 17 and 13.

That was … chippy: The Suns and Clippers combined for six technicals in a physical game that also saw Alvin Gentry kicked out for arguing a foul call.
— Michael Schwartz, Valley of the Suns

Streak Check13 wins a row
It’s a baker’s dozen. And now the Clippers are 4 wins away from being undefeated in December. Let that sink in for a moment: The Los Angeles Clippers could go an ENTIRE MONTH without losing. Only 10 teams have done that in the shot-clock era.

Tweet of the Game

I wonder if Grant Hill grabbed some treatment from the Warlocks while he is in town.

ClipperBlogLive’s Best MomentClipperBlog Live’s “Stolen Internet Game” functions much stronger with multiple participants, as Jordan partially undresses on camera and Jovan tosses his unmentionables on screen.

Check Your MessagesPaulin’ Out
We’re seeing a change in Chris Paul.

Tonight, Paul came out and immediately dominated as a scorer. His 12 first-quarter points (paired with four assists and three steals) gave him his best opening quarter of the season and partly because of that, we’re starting to see a change in Paul’s game.

Over his past two performances, Paul has dominated the ball even more than usual. His 17 points and 13 assists in only 29 minutes paired with his 24-point, 13-assist game against Sacramento on Friday give him his best back-to-back performance of the season. And with that aggression has come shooting.

The NBA season is long. Some say too long. But for Paul’s shooting it seems to be just right.

Heading into the Kings game, he was shooting only 31.9 percent from three, but over these last two games, there’s been quite a change. He’s 7-for-11 from beyond the arc and is improving his percentage from midrange shot with each attempt.

Thank regression – or in this case, progression – to the mean, because Chris Paul’s shot is back.- Fred Katz

Settle down, Mike Smith
Mike Smith’s pearl of wisdom for the night: “Whenever I had breakaways, Ralph, it was never hard for me to decide what to do. For blake it must be incredibly difficult. He’s gotta decide which dunk to do… I only had one.”- Michael Shagrin

Griffin flying… under the radar
Most of the talk has been about the bench and the improvements on the defensive end, but Blake Griffin is quietly enjoying as productive of a season as he’s ever had. The difference is that he’s playing less, 32.5 minutes to be exact, so his per game numbers (18.2 points, 8.8 rebounds) aren’t as high as they usually are.

Looking at his per-36 stats, however, you see that he’s right at 20 points, 10 rebounds and 53 percent shooting. He currently has the active record of 11 straight games of 50+ percent shooting, a PER of 22.8, and is becoming a reasonable defender.

What’s not to like?- Jovan Buha

Well, Griffin can’t bring about world peace.. can he?
From a fan’s perspective, the Clippers’ 13-game winning streak has been a revelation, but from a blogging standpoint, it’s starting to get kinda old. The schedule keeps serving up cupcakes, the Clippers keep spitting them back out, and there’s only so long you can argue about Willie Green’s minutes before you start to feel petty.

So here’s a nuance-free conclusion for these uncomplicated times: it’s mind-boggling how quickly Blake Griffin continues to improve.

Griffin recently told color man Mike Smith, that he “gets the most satisfaction out of doing the things people say I can’t do.” If that’s true, then Blake must be feeling pretty satisfied these days.

Remember the commentator consensus that Blake’s shot was hitched nearly beyond salvage? He continues to put up top-10 mid-range shooting numbers for a power forward, hitting two mid-range J’s, along with a clock-shot beating corner 3 and a perfect 6-for-6 at line.

After routinely being described last year as a WWE heel, Griffin has hugely reduced his expressive commentary, limiting his smirks, stare downs and incredulous hand gestures. He seems more content to let his game speak for him; even when calls don’t go his way, it no longer seems to distract him the way it did in the past. Tonight, after Shannon Brown sent him sprawling into the baseline photographers on the fast break, Blake skipped the scowling, untangled himself quickly and sank both free-throws.

Finally – and most importantly – many people (OK, myself included) have questioned Blake’s ability to be a consistent plus defender. Some said his arms were too short. Others simply questioned his desire to put in the work necessary to defend at a high level night in and night out. But here he was, living in the passing lanes on a sleepy Phoenix Sunday night. Blake’s biggest improvement this season has been a) his ability to selectively utilize the his explosiveness on the defensive end, and b) a nightly commitment to focused rotations that we’ve never seen before from Blake. It doesn’t matter how easy the Clips’ recent schedule has been, a 13 game winning streak requires consistency, and Blake’s quiet evolution into the complete player people doubted he could be has made that possible.- Jordan Heimer

13 straight in the NBA , should not be downplayed! Cupcakes or not! Go Clips. The Knicks could not win in Chicago.

Clips4

The Knicks lost because Melo got ejected with 6:45 left in the game. Considering how close the game was, the Knicks are a vastly different team once Melo is not in the lineup.

Tim

Stop making excuses for the Knicks, score board! They lost, that’s it. No excuses. Melo should realize his team is vastly different and try not getting ejected. The Knicks don’t have a Tribe Called Bench to call on when the MVP candidate gets himself kicked out of the game. If Paul gets bounced, call on Bledsoe, and there’s no major drop-off.

Clips4

Tim, you are wrong. If CP3 goes out, Bledsoe will get the call but he is nowhere near the floor leader CP3 is in the clutch. If Chauncey was healthy and in his prime, the drop-off would not be as significant. Bledsoe can be turnover prone and he does not have the shooting touch CP3 has. He can penetrate but does not have the court-vision CP3 has. In terms of team drop-off, the team would survive because of the depth, the Knicks just put their roster together of new spare parts because they are tied down in terms of money because of the hefty contracts of Amare and Melo. Plus, if you remember, the NBA rescinded that second technical that Melo got that caused him to be ejected so it wasn’t Melo’s fault.

Tim

The scoreboard doesn’t lie. So, question, do you think the Clips can string together 21 more wins, and celebrate the longest winning streak in NBA history come February 1st vs the Raptors?

Clips4

There’s no way the Clips will string together 21 more straight victories. They’re bound to lose at some point. As much as I would love for that to happen, realistically it will not. I’m with Jordan and the other CBL guys that the Clips will either lose the game against Boston or the game at Utah the next night on the second game back to back. That is a tough win to come out with. I am confident Clips will beat Denver on Christmas, but will probably lose one of the next four games.

Tim

I think the Clips will beat the Celtics, and with no Mo Williams, coupled by the early aggressiveness of Chris Paul, the Clippers will sweep right through that home and home vs Utah. The only games I’m really concerned with are the 3 games in 4 nights where they play GSW 2 times, and the Lakers once during the stretch. If they can sneak those in, and a tough road at Memphis, Houston, back to back followed by a visit to Minnesota, then they’ll be home free. Well? Maybe that back to back GSW and OKC might be tough to swallow, but by that time, we’ll all know where this is headed. Chris Paul will not be denied if they get a week or 2 into January having still not lost. Would love to see the Clips go for 34 wins, so people could finally remove all doubt about this team. Chris Paul and Blake Griffin are the bullies on the block, and its time to start cashing in on some rings, and what better way to send a message than to do something to create a legacy. 34 wins in a row accomplishes that, and we’re only 39 days away from February 1st in Toronto!

Clips4

Utah is always a hard place to play in like Denver is especially on the second night of a back to back (Time-zone change) Boston, even though they’re playing .500 ball right now is not a gimme-game either because of Doc Rivers, KG, Pierce, and Rondo. I’m not scared of Boston like I was in years past, but they’re not exactly scrubs. Utah is a well-coached team and even without Mo Williams, it’ll be a tough out because of Al Jefferson and Paul Millsap. If Blake and DJ can stop Big Al and Millsap, then the Clippers will win.

Danadude

Reasonable defender? Mr Buha, Blake routinely shuts down the other teams best forward. Chris Paul is the games best player, Blake is a great player, but without Paul we are just a good, not great, team

Clips4

Merry Christmas, everyone! Let’s get the W tonight!

JoeLuis323

Is anyone else dreaming of 34 Victories in a row?! The Clips just had a 42pt second quarter vs Denver! Just WOW!. #ATribeCalledBench #CP3TheGr8!

Tim

Talk to me February 1st when the Clips win at Toronto, that’ll be the record breaking 34th win in a row!!!